Perhaps surprisingly, Occasion is an album of duos featuring pianist Harry Connick, Jr. and saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Though the two have played and recorded together before, most notably with Connick stepping in for a cut on Marsalis’ <emromare bearden revealed, they aren’t necessarily perceived as the most likely match up. Stylistically it’s doubtful that one could really anticipate the results of the pairing especially in a bass-less and drum-less environ. Telling, however, is that the disc appears on Branford’s Marsalis Music, the label on which Connick records his instrumental jazz albums as he continues his association with Columbia Records for his vocal products. So Connick and Marsalis meet on their common turf of serious jazz for an album of all original material contributed by both of their pens. Following two challenging Connick composition that sometime take the duo into free territory, it is Marsalis who offers the first of the disc’s most melodic numbers, “Occasion.” It has all the markings of a swinging jazz standard with the piano and tenor sax dancing in a bubbling stream of flowing notes. Connick’s “Spot” continues the swing and levity. It’s got an old-fashioned flavor with a New Orleans taste accented by the pianist’s stride work and the saxophonist’s soprano frequently suggesting a clarinet. By the song’s end these guys hit the accelerator and take off flying. Marsalis picks up the soprano again for his tribute to the late, great and influential soprano saxist Steve Lacy. It’s a beautifully unadorned number that is executed with obvious sincerity. Connick’s original “Good To Be Home” takes the album out with a happy strut, lots of piano trills and the tenor tinged with rhythm and blues. The New Orleanians return to their birthplace, a locale they love and miss. On their way, they veer off on roads they’ve traveled many times before though usually aboard separate vehicles. Occasion works because of the huge talent of these artists and the wide-open canvas on which they’ve chosen to create.